Rotterdam is a city which is located in the south of Holland, Netherlands. Geographically it is located inside the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt river delta towards the North sea. It has its long history which goes back to 1270. It was this time when a dam was built in the Rotteriver and the masses started living around it for their protection. During 1340, the city was given the rights of a city by the court of Holland. Gradually the city grew into a main economic and logistic centre. Today, it accommodates the largest port of Europe and has a total population of around 624,799 (2014, city proper). This is the second largest population in any city of Netherlands. The area of the Greater Rijnmond accommodates a population of around 1.4 million people and the The Hague urban area of Rotterdam is the 168th most populous area of the world. This city is a portion of the huge Randstad conurbation having an entire population of 7, 100,000.
One of the most famous places in the city of Rotterdam is called the Erasmus University. This university is located along the riverside and represents a cultural life and a maritime heritage. The almost completely destructed centre of the Rotterdam city at the time of the Second World War called the Rotterdam Blitz has become a varied architectural landscape consisting of huge buildings that are not a very common sight in the rest of Dutch cities. This city accommodates a few of the very popular architecture from famous architects such as Piet Blom, Rem Koolhaas as well as Ben van Berkel. In the recent times the city was listed as number eight in the Rough Guide’s top 10 places to see. Also, it was given the vote of 2015 European City of the Year by the Academy of Urbanism.
The largest cargo port of Europe is the port of Rotterdam. This is also the 10th largest port in the world. The logistics success of the city has its basis on the strategic location of the city on the North Sea.